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Wednesday, 15 July 2015

Best trousers ever!

No word of a lie, these are not only the best trousers I have ever made, but they are the perfect style for me which makes the painful experience of tracing from a Burda pattern sheet totally worth while!

These are made up from a really lovely culottes pattern from this years April Burda magazine and have got the volume that I love in a wide leg trouser and also the deep pleats at the front which help to cover my not so flat anymore tum. I don't even normally buy Burda magazine, but as fate would have it this issue happened to be in my local Sainsbury's and I really wanted to try this cover pattern. It has not been stocked before or since, so it was definitely 'meant to be'. ;-)

Burda patterns, for those who haven't come across them before, are all on one big sheet in the middle of the magazine. All lines overlap and I have yet to decipher how they are arranged on each sheet. Luckily, as the cover pattern, the pattern pieces were relatively easy to locate and highlighted in pink. It took me a while to discover that the pocket pattern piece was on the trouser leg and that I had to draw the fly shield and waistband myself, but not too painless a task. I don't mind putting a bit of work in as Burda are supplying us with a great amount of patterns each month for just £4.99 an issue!

Size wise I fell into the largest of the standard sizes, so traced the 44. I was expecting all sorts of fit issues like too much ease or something, but as you can see these fit like a dream. Lucky really as I didn't toile and I cut straight into my 'good fabric'. The fabric is a really drapey pale chambray that I bought on a recent meet-up in Walthamstow. When bought it I thought it was mainly cotton, but it's too drapey and silky. It must have some man made fibre or maybe viscose in it, but it's a dream to work with and as it turns out perfect trouser material! It was only £3 a metre and I used pretty much the whole 2 metres in these trousers.

I had to stand on this little table for you to see them properly. I did a deep hem of 5" to make them a suitable length for me, so these come out looong!

I don't normally like to show off my backside, but look at the fit and the drape of the fabric!!! I feel like one of those 1930's beach babes! One thing to note about this pattern is the extraordinarily long bum darts. I halved mine, because they were running down my leg otherwise which just seemed weird.

The instructions are always really criticised I've noticed for Burda patterns, but I didn't use them, ha! To be fair there is a lot more detail on this particular pattern being the featured pattern of the issue, so it may not be quite so devilish to figure out. Inseam pockets, fly front fastening and deep pleats are the main features.

Lots of lovely fabric in the legs!

I plan to make at least one more pair for now in this black and white ikat spot drapey fabric (viscose?). I'm rubbish with anything that isn't cotton, silk, wool or linen I must admit. I only bought 1.5 metres, so may need to shorten them or take out some volume from the back leg, but these will be awesome!

For the waistband and any straight waistband I make I always insert this rigid tape stuff. I don't know what it's called, but it's in any haberdashers and just gives structure to a garment. The trousers didn't really come together until the waistband was complete and this is part of the success of this make as they basically hang from the waistband like a curtain hangs from a curtain pole. For the right garment a straight waistband can be brilliant. FYI, this is narrower than the one I actually used, but just gives you an idea.

The experience has certainly been positive and has not scared me off of trying Burda again. What about you, do you shy away from it or love Burda magazines?﻿